Illinois Governor Debate: Rauner, Pritzker Meet In Final Showdown

QUINCY, IL — The two leading candidates for Illinois governor met for a final televised debate Thursday night in downstate Quincy with less than four weeks to go before Election Day. It was the only debate outside of Chicago and featured questions from panelists from media outlets in Peoria, Rockford and Quincy operated by the same media group. A discussion of the deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at Illinois Veterans Home in Quincy, where 14 residents have died in the past three years, opened the debate between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker.

"Immediately, the first day, action was taken to keep the veterans safe," Rauner said, praising the actions of local staff. The outbreak has been the subject of recent political ads by the Pritzker campaign, while Rauner contends the Democratic nominee is politicizing the death of veterans.

"Much of this so-called 'criminal investigation' is a political ploy to divert attention from the tax fraud that Mr. Pritzker has engaged in and I believe it's a shameful abuse of power by the attorney general."

Democratic Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the daughter House Speaker Mike Madigan, the man the governor has said is really "in charge" of Illinois, opened a criminal probe into the handling of the outbreak by the Rauner administration.

"Over the course of three years the neglect and fatal management led to 14 deaths and 70 people getting sick, including the veterans, their family members and people who worked at the facility," Pritzker said. "Gov. Rauner tried to blame this on Sen. Tammy Duckworth, he tried to blame it on the weather."

Pritzker has sought to deflect Rauner's accusations of tax cheating following the release of a report by the Cook County inspector general's office that found the billionaire venture capitalist and heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune had engaged in a "scheme to defraud" taxpayers to obtain $330,000 in tax breaks by removing toilets and having one of his houses declared uninhabitable.

"He's demonstrated a complete lack of integrity ethics and character. He is not worthy of elected office in the state of Illinois," Pritzker said.

"These are serious white-collar crimes, people have gone to prison for far less than Mr. Pritzker has committed," the governor said.

"Just ridiculous," Pritzker said.

"And the simple fact is," Rauner continued, "four of my nine predecessors as governor went to jail. Mr. Pritzker has a very good chance of being number five."

Rauner went on to recount a serious of accusations including perjury, never working an honest day, inheriting billions kept in tax shelters, attempting to buy office from imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on FBI wiretaps and said the Democratic nominee does not "deserve" to hold elected office in the state.

"And to add insult to injury, he was caught using the language of racists referring to elected officials in Illinois, calling black elected officials..." The governor paused before grimacing and nodding silently at the panel. "What did he call 'em?"

Another pause.

"I'll leave that to you," said moderator Gene Kennedy of WGEM-TV.

"Offensive. Offensive." Rauner said.

"Alright," Kennedy said. "You're time is up here, governor." (At a post-debate press conference, Rauner said his dramatic pause was "for effect.")

Pritzker, whose campaign said he is returning the money he gained from his controversial property tax appeals, dismissed the criticism as a last-ditch effort of an unpopular chief executive.

"You've just heard a desperate rant by a failed governor who is in the final hours of his campaign and his governorship," Pritzker said. "He's got nothing else, just lies and excuses."

Pritzker pointed to a Crain's Chicago Business report suggesting an associate of Rauner's in the office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas had been involved leaked the document in cooperation with the governor's campaign. He went on to explain the timeline of renovations on the $3.5 million house he purchased next to his $14.5 million Gold Coast mansion – which itself was renovated at a cost of up to $25 million more.

When asked to account for the billions of dollars needed to steady the state's finances, Pritzker said the state could reduce spending on high school education by investing more in early childhood development. He also cited savings to be gained through providing improved preventative care.

"Let's look at revenue. I have proposed that we legalize marijuana, I think that we can bring in $700 million by doing that. We can also accomplish a lot in our criminal justice system by doing that, making it safe for people," Pritzker said. "We also should look at sports betting in the state."

"But any math that you can commit to in regards to that?" Kennedy asked.

"I'm suggesting to you that we need to look at all three [revenue, spending, jobs] of these things," Pritzker said. "When you're balancing a budget, it's not just that one tax is associated with an expenditure. You have to look at it holistically." He said he had a plan for lowering the cost of government and growing the economy with particular investments in small businesses and education.

Rauner said he was more successful at job creation than his Democratic predecessors.

"We grow jobs by cutting taxes, not raising them the way Mr. Pritzker wants to do. We grow jobs by cutting the regulatory burden on our businesses not putting in more regulations," Rauner said. "And the way to grow infrastructure, as I've proposed very clearly, is public-private partnerships, a balanced budget that prioritizes infrastructure, more money from the federal government."

The governor said "hundreds of companies" had told him they were in the state because he won the 2014 gubernatorial election was "fightin'" for them and "if Mr. Pritzker got in and raised taxes as he's promised," they would be "leavin'" the state. He promised a "flood" of businesses would leave if Pritzker's proposed progressive income tax and a vehicle miles tax (floated during the primary) were enacted.

Rauner said he would be able to deliver more money from the federal government than Pritzker. He agreed with his opponent that gambling should be expanded, pointing out the state was losing millions by people crossing interstate borders to gamble.

"We can have billions of dollars in new financing to put together the biggest capital bill in Illinois history with no new taxes, with strong economic growth. We combine infrastructure spending with continued spending on K-12 schools, and I will get record funding for higher education in my first year of my second term," Rauner promised.

Pritzker said the governor had made a series of similar promises four years ago.

"He's living in a state of denial. The rest of us are living in the state of Illinois," Pritzker said. "We went 736 days without a budget, there was $16 billion of a bill backlog that he built up. A billion dollars wasted in late payment fees that are owed because of his intransigence. Eight credit downgrades for the state, just under this governor."

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted last week, Pritzker enjoyed a 42 percent to 24 percent lead over Rauner among all voters and 50-30 among likely voters. Thursday's debate was produced by WGEM in partnership with the Illinois Broadcaster's Association.

Of the candidates who will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot but did not meet the polling threshold to participate in the debate, Libertarian Kash Jackson recorded a one-on-one interview with WGEM, while Sen. Sam McCann, of the newly formed Conservative Party, declined an invitation to participate, according to the station.

Watch full debate and post-debate interviews